Quote trevor826, "I was hoping to write a review about the Russian film Nightwatch, I remember we used to have comments about it before the crash. Unfortunately it bored me so much and was less Russian (more Hollywood) than any other film I've ever seen from that part of the world. It's sad to see regions that are noted for the originality and style of their films following this route.

Quote arsaib4, "I agree. Also, the fact that it's the most successful Russian film to date is even more disturbing."

Hana-bi (Takesi Kitano / Japan / 1997)
Saw this again after 4 years, and while I wasn`t as impressed as the first time, still a masterpiece and my favorite film by Kitano. This was the film that opened up Japanese Cinema for me.
Great Musical score, btw.

Romero's Land of the Dead, good ol' zombie fun with much stronger and far less subtle political and social overtones than his previous chapters. It was a good laugh although some of Dennis Hoppers lines made me groan out loud.

First of Tartan's 2005 Asia extreme tour, R Point. Will comment in Korean Korner but to me the most intriguing point was finding out that South Korean troops fought in the Vietnam war, I have no idea why, unless the US applied pressure as they have done with Iraq.

Last life in the Universe, the R1 dvd, I noticed something strange, Takashi Miike's voice has been dubbed. Why? I have absolutely no idea, his voice is much raspier and sardonic in the original release!

Well this film is usually cited as a landmark in Spanish cinema, and one that helped establish a national film culture in the wake of Franco. It also was the breakout film of Saura who became one of the central figures of Spanish film ever since. The film itself is disturbing in some of it's imagery. Watching the film you can see how certain elements of foreshadowing could clue us in on a Hollywood film, but you can't make the same generalizations here. There is an emminent danger throughout, and everyone is ripe for going crazy here. I was a little disgusted with some of the hunting scenes, because I may not be a vegetarian, but that doesn't mean I like to see rabits killed. I can't say this is Saura's best, not like I'm an expert on the man, but it may be his most important, and it helped to open the door for a great many Spanish language films in future years. I just wish my print had been a little bit better. Full of subtitles cut off by the screen, and faint hard to read titles on top of it. Not to mention just a generally bad negative, but such is the roll of the dice one has to take with the lost world of VHS.